Can Isaac Redman Shoulder The Load For The Steelers' Running Game in 2012?

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Steelers starting running back Rashard Mendenhall suffered a torn ACL in week 17 of last season. The injury hurt the back’s chances at his third consecutive 1,000-yard rushing season. Mendenhall finished with 928 yards in 2011.

His chances of returning to 1,000 rushing yards this season are also dwindling as Pittsburgh’s GM Kevin Colbert guesses Mendenhall will start the season off on the PUP list according to RotoWorld. That would keep Mendenhall out of the first six games of the season.

But Pittsburgh has confidence in Isaac Redman, Mendenhall’s backup, who started last year’s playoff game against Denver. Redman has played in every game the last two seasons and has rushed for a respectable 726 yards as a backup.

Some Steeler experts actually believe Redman could be a huge surprise and play better than Mendenhall did last season. Pittsburgh threw the ball a lot more in 2011 than they did the previous year, but Mendenhall ran too much to his left and right trying to dodge defenders rather than running through them.

Redman looks much more like a “Jerome Bettis” type back and even if he only gets 15 carries in the new Ben Roethlisberger oriented offense, Redman will punish defenders which will endear him to Pittsburgh fans.

New offensive coordinator Todd Haley will, however, have to worry about Redman’s fumbling problem. Last season, he lost two fumbles in just 110 carries. But if Redman can correct that problem, he should carry the backfield for the first half of the season. Then when Mendenhall returns, the Steelers could have a deadly one-two punch.

No. Redman is just a guy. A nobody,really. If he does succeed as a #1 back, it will just provide corroborating evidence for those who say the RB position has become so degraded that you can always find a decent option from the kind of nowhere hole where players like Redman are to be found.

No. Redman is just a guy. A nobody,really. If he does succeed as a #1 back, it will just provide corroborating evidence for those who say the RB position has become so degraded that you can always find a decent option from the kind of nowhere hole where players like Redman are to be found.

not really... all it means is sometimes the scouts, agents and coaches get it wrong... and sometimes a kids bad decisions can hurt his options while in college or HS which can slow his rise to fame.

If anyone could be a RB in the NFL then trust me... a lot of guys would be in the NFL.

The RB position is one where a talented RB who didn't get hype can flourish in if given the opportunity and he is up to the challenge.

PITTSBURGH -- One of six former undrafted free agents who figures to open the year as a starting tailback for his franchise, Isaac Redman of the Pittsburgh Steelers is also the only member of that half-dozen lead runner subset who has yet to rush for 500 yards in a season.

Yet the third-year veteran, who almost certainly will supplant the injured Rashard Mendenhall as the Steelers' starter for the Sept. 9 opener at Denver, is confident that he can fill the bill in a revamped offense that likely will emphasize the run more in 2012 under new coordinator Todd Haley.

"Mentally, you're always ready, because you're just one (injury) away from having to be 'the guy,' you know?" said Redman, a former Bowie State (Md.) standout signed by the Steelers in 2009, after he went undrafted. "This is a little different. You have to be ready to carry maybe 20 times in a game, instead of, say, 10. The workload is something you can't ignore. But I'm looking forward to it. People are looking hard to me to step up ... and I don't intend to let anyone down."

Mendenhall tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in the 2011 season finale at Cleveland, and the Steelers' leading rusher each of the past three seasons probably will begin the season on the physically unable to perform list. That would sideline Mendenhall for at least the first six weeks. Even though Mendenhall has begun light jogging, and his rehabilitation seems to be proceeding without incident, there is speculation the former first-rounder won't play at all in 2012. Pittsburgh general manager Kevin Colbert even acknowledged that anything the team gets from Mendenhall this season will be "a bonus."

The team's first-round pick in 2008, Mendenhall expects to return at some point in 2012, but conceded this spring that he can't say when. Entering the final season of his original contract, the injury places Mendenhall and the Steelers in a tough spot.

Enter Redman, who rushed for 121 yards on 17 attempts in the Steelers' wild card loss to the Broncos to end last season, but who had only one regular-season start before that. His lack of starting experience notwithstanding, Redman has adopted an Alfred E. Newman ("What, me worry?") approach to the impending pressure.

"I've never been one, not matter what other people think, to doubt myself," Redman said. "I mean, why not me, right? Other (undrafted tailbacks) have done it."

True enough, but Redman, who took the bulk of the snaps as the No. 1 tailback during the Pittsburgh minicamps and OTAs, and who appears unchallenged right now for the top perch on the depth chart, hasn't done it yet. All of the other five undrafted players projected as starters have achieved some respective degree of NFL success.

Redman, on the other hand, has just two career starts, counting the playoff game last year. He owns only three career contests with 10 or more carries. And, after starting his career in 2009 by spending the entire season on injured reserve, Redman has just 726 yards in two seasons. The five other undrafted free agents cited previously all have at least one year with more rushing yards than Redman's career total.

What he might lack in experience and accomplishments, though, Redman possesses in self esteem. And the rest of the organization here, where the Steelers have added no veteran runners in free agency and didn't choose a tailback in the draft until the fifth round, seems to share that confidence.

Good thing, because there isn't much behind him. The Steelers currently have four tailbacks, besides Mendenhall and Redman, on the roster. Second-year veteran Baron Batch, a seventh-round choice in 2011, spent his entire rookie season on injured reserve. This year's fifth-rounder, Chris Rainey, is regarded more as a third-down or change-of-pace back. Returning young veterans Jonathan Dwyer and John Clay have a total of 10 regular-season appearances and zero starts between them, with a combined 35 carries for 191 yards and one touchdown.

Compounding the situation is the new offense installed this spring by Haley, who is replacing longtime coordinator Bruce Arians. Redman conceded that the offense, with its new terminology, will need an acclimation period. Then there is the seeming preference of standout quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for the passing game, and the charge of Steelers' president Art Rooney II to better balance the attack in 2012.

If the urging of Rooney, that Pittsburgh improve its ground efficiency, doesn't quite qualify as a mandate from the top, it's certainly a strong suggestion. The Steelers ranked No. 14 statistically in rushing offense in 2011, had only 386 rushes by backs, and suffered problems closing out games on the ground.

Relying on a relatively untested tailback to fix all of the problems -- especially one who probably lacks Mendenhall's wiggle, and his and long speed, and was principally utilized as a short-yardage and goal line specialist in the past -- doesn't exactly sound like a ready remedy.

Except to the 230-pound Redman.

"I'm sure of myself," Redman said. "And the team, I think, is sure of me, too."

Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall has been saying this offseason that he thinks he can play in Week 1 this season despite suffering a torn ACL in Week 17 last season, and as training camp draws near, Mendenahll isn’t changing his tune.

Mendenhall took to Twitter today to give his fans an update, saying the knee has healed.

“My knee has healed wonderfully, thanks for all the well wishes!” Mendenhall wrote.

Mendenhall likely won’t be ready to go when training camp starts for the Steelers on July 25, but if he’s ready to go when the regular season opens on September 9, that would be an impressive recovery. And wonderful news for the Steelers.